I have also utilized a small part of the Introduction to my “Handbook of American Indian Languages” (Bulletin 40 of the Bureau of American Ethnology), and some of the results of my report on “Changes in Bodily Form of Descendants of Immigrants” (vol. 39, Reports of the Immigration Commission, Washington, Government Printing Office).
FRANZ BOAS.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| I. | Racial Prejudices | [1] |
| Racial achievement and aptitude, [1].—The white race, having achieved the highest civilization, represents the highest physical type, [2]. | ||
| Does cultural achievement depend upon hereditary aptitude alone? [5].—Many races have contributed to the origin of civilization, [5].—Early civilization in America, [7].—Interpretation of rapidity of development, [8].—The spread of civilization, [10].—Summary, [16]. | ||
| Are anatomical characteristics of foreign races expressions of inferiority? [17].—Lower characteristics of various parts of the body, [18].—Development in different races of traits differentiating man from animal, [21].—Significance of these traits for discussion of mental character, [22].—Size of brain, [24].—Lack of correlation between size of brain and ability, [28].—Structure of brain, [29].—Summary, [29]. | ||
| II. | Influence of Environment upon Human Types | [30] |
| Problems of racial and social characteristics, [30].—Definition and description of variability of types, [31]. | ||
| Differences between civilized and primitive members of the same race, [39].—Problem of stability of type of the human species, [41].—Evolution of human species, [41].—Problem of stability of races, [44].—Variations due to changes in rate of growth, [45].—Arrest of growth, [49].—Variations not due to growth, [50].—Differences between rural and urban types, [50].—Influence of selection, [53].—Changes in bodily form of American immigrants, [53].—Explanation of changes, [57].—Range of changes, [63].—Changes of mental traits, [64]. | ||
| Domestication, [65].—Changes due to environment, [70].—Changes due to selection, [72].—Changes due to crossing, [73]. | ||
| III. | Influence of Heredity upon Human Types | [76] |
| Importance of heredity, [76].—Alternating and mid-parental heredity, [77].—Heredity in race-mixture, [78].—Intra-racial heredity, [80].—Regression to ancestral types, [81].—Similarity of brothers and sisters, [83].—Mendelian inheritance, [84]. | ||
| Origin of local types, [84].—Descent in large and in small communities, [84].—Johannsen’s observations on plants, [89].—Mixture of local types, [90].—Variability in local types and in races, [91]. | ||
| IV. | The Mental Traits of Primitive Man and of Civilized Man | [95] |
| Method of approach, [95].—Animal and man, [96].—Primitive man and civilized man, [97].—Historical notes, [99].—Racial and social problem, [101]. | ||
| Mental characteristics of primitive man regardless of race, [104].—Inhibition, [106].—Improvidence, [109]. Attention, [110].—Originality of thought, [111].—Quantitative character of racial differences, [114].—Differences between closely related groups of people, [116].—Effects of malnutrition, [117].—Experimental method, [117]. | ||
| Influence of continued civilization, [118].—Relapse of individuals into primitive life, [120].—Influence of early habits, [121].—Summary, [122]. | ||
| V. | Race and Language | [124] |
| Is language an expression of the mental development of a race? [124]. | ||
| Relations between type, language, and culture, [125].—Classifications from these three points of view irreconcilable, [126].—Permanence of type and change of language, [127].—Permanence of language and change of type, [129].—Permanence of type and language and change of culture, [132].—Hypothesis of original correlation between type, language, and culture, [134]. | ||
| Are there “lower” and “higher” languages? [140].—Phonetics, [140].—Classification of ideas, [142].—Examples, [145].—Holophrasis, [147].—Necessity of formal elements, [147].—Relations between language and thought, [148].—Abstract terms, [149].—Numeral systems, [152]. | ||
| VI. | The Universality of Cultural Traits | [155] |
| Similarities of cultural traits, [155].—Explained as due to the influence of environment, [159].—Cases of lack of adjustment to environment, [162].—Influence of former environment, [163].—Similarities explained as survivals of times antedating dispersion of human species, [164].—Dissemination, [166].—Areas of dissemination, [169].—Similarities explained as due to sameness of elementary ideas, [171].—Psychological explanation, [173]. | ||
| VII. | The Evolutionary Viewpoint | [174] |
| Does human culture represent an evolutionary series? [174].—Examples: Social organization, [176].—Inventions, [177].—Agriculture, [178].—Art, [179].—Religion, [180].—Parallelism of cultural development, [181].—Dissimilarity of sequence in industrial development, [182]. | ||
| Convergent development, [184].—Lack of comparability of data, [188].—Examples: Life after death, [189].—Totemism, [190].—Ethics, [191]. | ||
| Types of development from simple to complex forms, and vice versâ, [193]. | ||
| VIII. | Some Traits of Primitive Culture | [197] |
| Mental re-actions of primitive and of civilized man, [197].—Classification of phenomena, [198].—With the advance of civilization, principles of classification rise into consciousness, [201].—Effect of traditional material upon thought, [203].—Example of development of ethical concepts, [206]. | ||
| Types of association in civilized society, [209].—Associations due to customary re-actions, and their emotional value, [211].—Secondary explanations, [214]. | ||
| Types of association in primitive society, [220].—Their unconscious origin, [221].—Their rise into consciousness, [224].—Secondary explanations, [225].—Associations peculiar to primitive life, [228].—Ritual, [229].—Myth, [230].—Decorative art, [231].—Totemism, [235].—Origin of associations, [237].—Importance of emotional elements in establishing associations, [237]. | ||
| IX. | Summary | [244] |
| X. | Race Problems in the United States | [251] |
| Origins of the American nation, [252].—Characteristics of race-mixture in the United States and in Europe, [254].—Amalgamation of distinct types, [258].—Effects of change of environment and of mixture, [261].—The negro problem, [268]. | ||
| Notes | [279] |
THE MIND OF PRIMITIVE MAN
I. RACIAL PREJUDICES
Proud of his wonderful achievements, civilized man looks down upon the humbler members of mankind. He has conquered the forces of nature and compelled them to serve him. He has transformed inhospitable forests into fertile fields. The mountain fastnesses are yielding their treasures to his demands. The fierce animals which are obstructing his progress are being exterminated, while others which are useful to him are made to increase a thousand-fold. The waves of the ocean carry him from land to land, and towering mountain-ranges set him no bounds. His genius has moulded inert matter into powerful machines which await a touch of his hand to serve his manifold demands.